Arianna Stenger

Dr. Weiss

ECE-220-01

17 September 2023

Professional Personality

Understanding who we are and how we fit into our prospective professions is so

important, especially in the field of education. Teachers do not just lead classrooms. Teachers are

students, scholars, reporters, advocates, and everything in between. It is imperative that I define

what each of these roles mean to me and how I plan on executing them throughout my career.

My time at LVC and my field placements are sure to help me navigate that as best as I can.

Through my coursework at LVC and my summer job at a Preschool, I have come across

unique traits that are certain to make me a better educator. Through my job especially, I have

found that I am equipped with sufficient self-regulatory skills to work with children on a daily

basis. When frustrated, I am able to acknowledge my frustrations and take a step back to have a

clear mind when deciding why a child may be behaving in the way that he or she is. This ability

to process will prove so helpful through adversity I face within and beyond the walls of the

classroom. The combination of those self-regulation skills and the passion for advocacy that I

hold will create a safe and positive learning environment for all of my students and myself. Since

coming to college, I have truly gotten in tune with my voice and how impactful it can be.

Something that yields much power must be treated with the same level of delicacy, which I think

I will do well. Standing up for my students of color, students with disabilities, students living in

poverty, etc will be as easy as those situations can be for me. Overall, I believe that my

overarching strength in all categories is simply passion. There are not many things I love more
than learning. Whether that be my own personal growth, watching my students learn about the

world, or being the person who guides them through that journey, learning itself is truly just so

powerful and beautiful. I feel grateful everyday to be a part of it.

All of the qualities I now possess are simply products of everyone who has gotten me to

this point. All of my former teachers, coaches, friends, and family have given me unique lessons

and characteristics that have formed me into the person I am today. I must, however, recognize

one educator who has made an incredible impact on my life and philosophies as a teacher. Dr.

Romagnolo, a professor in the English and Social Justice departments at LVC, taught my First-

Year Experience class, “Race in the 21st Century.” At the start of my first year, I was very unsure

of my capabilities and honestly, just everything. Dr. Romagnolo, truly, made me feel like I can do

absolutely anything I put my mind to, which is a feeling I have never really felt before. Her

empathy and kindness and passion for what she does radiates off of her. She lives to help her

students, to teach, and to promote advocacy across the board. I hope that eventually I will create

the learning environment that she did. I want my students to feel comfortable and confident. I

will be sure to always listen to them, offer them any support that they need, and to make sure that

their voices are heard. If I am half the educator that Dr. Romagnolo is, I will consider myself

extremely successful.

While I will spend my career giving my students my empathy, a safe space, a comfortable

learning environment, etc they will teach me in ways that I will never be able to teach another

human being. I have been in two separate kindergarten classes and one PreK classroom since my

senior year of high school. Their innocence is beautiful. I love to see the pieces of their

personalities that the world has not yet taken over. They will simply see their classmates as their

friends, not just a “girl”, race, clothing, etc. It is so beautiful to see the genuine lack of judgment
that happens socially in lower elementary. The kindness that engulfs the room cannot help but

make me want to be a better person to reverse the damage the world has done to my thinking. I

hope that I am forever growing from my students. I hope that they teach me to remain patient,

calm, and kind.

In return for all that my students give me, I want them to have the best learning

experience possible. I hope that I am a teacher that they remember as being kind and fun. My

room should be filled with play and laughter and friendship. In my lifetime, I want to see a shift

in education that puts a more significant emphasis on social-emotional development, creativity,

and play. Of course, I want my students to learn all that they can, but I would love to remove the

narrative that learning can only be in relation to core subjects. I will try as hard as I can to

implement these philosophies in my classroom and allow my students to explore in the ways

young children should. I am hopeful that in me doing so, I will have an impact on at least some

of my students. I am hopeful that in 20 years a college student will sit down to write this

assignment and he or she will think “Miss Stenger.”

Professionally, I have concluded, that teaching to me means empathy, kindness, and

passion. I believe that students should be at the center of every decision we as educators make.

K-12 education is a place that we want everyone to look back at fondly; to look back and know

they got everything out of it that they could have. This starts with teachers. This starts with me. I

am excited to continue on my path to being an official educator and to see where my dreams an

passions lead myself and my prospective students.